ALU Podcast

Did you know that Africa has the highest entrepreneurship rate in the world?

Well, the World Bank reports that 22% of Africa’s working age population are starting a business.

Female entrepreneurship rate in Africa stands at 27%, again, the highest rate in the world. This translates to African women being twice as likely to start a business as women elsewhere in the world.

All looks great and glamorous until you realize that Sub-Saharan Africa also has the highest rate of small business discontinuous standing at a rate of 8.4%.

Looking at Kenya for instance, 60-80% of the new business do not leave long to celebrate their third anniversary. Now, what could be the problem resulting in such a high rate of business failure?

Our guest Dr Olufunso Somorin might have the right answer. He is the Regional Principal Officer at the African Development Bank. He leads the Bank’s work on climate change and green growth in 13 African countries. Beside his engagement at the Bank, Dr Somorin is a Director at Profectus Capital Group, a boutique investment firm providing financial and advisory services to SMEs in key sectors and industries in Africa.

Dr Somorin holds a PhD in International Environmental Policy from Wageningen University, the Netherlands. He has published more than 25 peer-reviewed articles on climate policy, natural resources management and sustainable development in many leading scientific journals.

"People are not buying your brand or product. People are buying a solution and that solution makes a great brand,"  says our guest this week.

Just 19 years ago, Google was a startup. But then, how was it able to build such a recognizable global brand that led to its financial success?

How can entrepreneurs in Africa and beyond build and maintain their startup's brand?

Our guest this week is Mzamo Masito, Google Africa's Chief Marketing Officer.

He has an expansive knowledge in marketing having taught on the subject in AAA School of Advertising in South Africa. He was also Unilever’s Branding Vice President prior to joining Vodacom as the Managing Executive for the Brand and Communications department-Africa. He previously held senior executive Marketing positions at Nike as the Chief Marketing Officer and was notably the World Cup 2010 lead.

Mzamo strongly believes that "to be young, gifted, free without opportunity is a devil’s gift and to deny that opportunity is immoral and criminal.

In this episode, he talks about how an entrepreneur can build and maintain a brand.

He also shares 4 tips of how the google founders built a great brand, 5 tips to differentiate your brand and how to overcome brand mishaps. 

As businesses compete for the digital 'real estate' the need for digital marketing firms and individual freelancers is on the rise.  How the do you penetrate the market and remain on top of the game and ahead of the competition? 

This week, our guest speaker Nnadozie Ebere answers answers these questions. Ebere is a student at the African Leadership University. He will share his journey as a founder of Tori Branding, a digital marketing company. He has also previously worked as a marketing consultant for ALU in Rwanda and as the global marketing intern for Hult Prize among others.

Today, the global digital economy is valued at 3 trillion USD. The fun fact is that the value has been generated within the last 20 years with the introduction of the internet.

As the digital economy continues to gain traction due to factors such as COVID19, more players in content curation, design and Marketing are needed.

Just like the large and established companies, small and medium size businesses are also in the rush to have an online presence. As a result, the demand for UI & UX designers has skyrocketed.

To find out, tune in into this week’s episode and listen to Uchechukwu Onyeka. Uchechukwu is a student at the African Leadership University. 

He has previously worked and freelanced with teams like obodo in the UK, Toptal in the San Francisco Bay Area, among others.

Fueled by technology and the evolving customer behavior, the Media and Entertainment Industry is gaining momentum. Did you know that Nigeria will be the world’s fastest-growing E&M market over the coming five years? 

According to PwC, the entertainment industry in Nigeria and the rest of the continent has promising estimates.

By the year 2023, revenues from the E&M industry will hit $4.3billion, $3billion and $598million in Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania respectively.

This is good news to Africa’s industry players such as actors, musicians, content creators and their talent managers.

Our guest this week,  Anchie Ng'inja, has been in the African entertainment industry for the last seven years. She is currently the manager of Sol Generation, a music label that manages music bands like Sauti Sol. Sauti Sol is a Kenyan afro-pop band formed in Kenya. They famously performed for the 44th US President, Barack Obama during a 2015 state dinner in Kenya as well as winning the best African Act award at the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards.

In this episode, she gives an insider's thoughts on how to turn your love for entertainment to a sustainable career path.

Africa needs between 500 billion to 1.2 trillion USD annually to meet its 2030 Development goals. This is according to a UN report on Financing for Sustainable Development. With the current deficits in most African countries, innovative financial models are crucial.

This week, our guest speaker, Dr. Frank Aswani, sheds light on his contribution to Social Investment in Africa.

Dr. Aswani is the CEO of African Venture Philanthropy Alliance. This is a network for social investors that facilitates the flow of human, intellectual and financial capital. The Alliance operates in Africa and across a network of 52 countries globally.

Aswani is also the MD of Asili Consulting. He previously served as  VP & Director of Strategic Relations in the African Leadership Academy. He was also the South Africa & Sub Saharan Sales Director for Eli Lilly & Co among others.

In this episode, he elaborates on the different innovative financial models & how your social investment venture can start and remain sustainable.

Tune in this week and enjoy the knowledge of a brilliant thought leader on matters Investments.

With over 80,000 homes listed in Airbnb in Africa and with the entry of Uber into the continent- the prospects of the Shared economy in Africa just got higher.

So how do you penetrate this market and go head to head with giants such as Tripadvisor, Book.com & Air bnb?

This week, our guest speaker, Nghombombong Minuifuong, highlights how he bridged the gap left by the big housing companies.

Nghombombong is the Founder and CEO OF Bongalo that offers arrangements for homestays, lodging, and tourism experiences to travellers in Africa. He has previously worked with Globex, Enko Education, the Quanteq Institute among others.

How do you mentally prepare to tackle hurdles as you transition from the corporate world to entrepreneurship?  Well, join our guest this week-Toyin Odulate. She will walk us step by step on her entrepreneurship journey. And on her becoming the CEO of her company-Olori.

Before founding Olori Beauty Enterprise in 2018, Odulate served as an Independent Non-Executive Director for Anheuser-Busch InBev. She had also been the Regional Director for Anglophone West Africa, Country Manager for Danone NELN among other positions.

In this episode, she narrates how a childhood passion and a hair accident she experienced in a salon, led to the eventual birth of her company. Also learn of the unique challenges women entrepreneurs face in the boardroom meetings. And other challenges cutting across genders and different social classes among business founders.

Tune in this week and learn how you can scale a business in different markets to launch your entrepreneurship journey. Listen to Victor Williams, a seasoned Mergers and  Acquisitions expert. He has served in various banking institutions such as Standard Bank, Wells Fargo Securities, Goldman Sachs and now shares his knowledge of different African markets in scaling a business.

NB: Victor Williams is currently the CEO of NBA Africa. This podcast interview was held in his previous role with Standard Bank Group as Head, Corporate & Investment Banking, Africa regions.

Great designers understand that design has the power to elevate the human experience. Successful business people know that great customer experience is critical to business success and sustainability. But how do you design these types of experiences for your customers, in a way that distinguishes your venture or idea from the competition?

Well tune in this week and learn how you can use Human Centered Design to your advantage. Listen to Kevin Bethune, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of dreams • design + life,  as he shares his points of view, learning and successes in the world of design thinking.

Kevin has a multidisciplinary career and operates at the intersection of design, business and technology. In this episode, he will be dissecting ways to codify your solutions around human needs. Listen now.